WaitingApple

Gwalchmai Ap Meilyr

2005-11-17T23:35:00.000-08:00

One of the earliest Welsh court poets (gogynfardd) at the court of Owain Gwynedd at Aberffraw, Anglesey. His extant poems include traditional eulogies to the Welsh princes Owain Gwynedd and Madog ap Maredudd and a “boasting poem,” Gorhoffedd, celebrating his prowess in war and with women. The son of Meilyr, the earliest of the court poets, Gwalchmai had at least two sons

Rachel, Mademoiselle

2005-10-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Mlle Rachel sang on the streets of Lyon and Paris, where her acting ability was quickly discovered by Isidore Samson, who taught her the acting techniques that he had learned from François-Joseph Talma. Mlle Rachel studied

East Devon

2005-07-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

District, administrative and historic county of Devon, southwestern England, in the southeastern part of the county and bordering Lyme Bay of the English Channel to the south. East Devon is historically known for its handmade lace and carpet-making industries in the eastern interior market towns of Honiton and Axminster. High-quality limestone has been quarried

Kourouma, Ahmadou

2005-07-26T23:10:00.000-07:00

Kourouma spent his early years in Guinea and attended secondary school in Bamako, Mali, until he was expelled and was drafted into the army by the French. He was sent to Indochina and served in Saigon. Later he continued

Cadiz

2005-07-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Chartered city and port, northern Negros Island, Philippines. It is one of five chartered cities and one of the principal ports on the island where most of the country's sugar is grown and refined and where fishing is a major industry. Herring, anchovy, round scad, and mackerel are caught. Cadiz fronts north on the Visayan Sea and lies some 40 miles (65 km) northeast of the island's

Finney, Charles Grandison

2005-07-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

After teaching school briefly, Finney studied law privately and entered the law office of Benjamin Wright at Adams, N.Y. References in his

Ussachevsky, Vladimir (alexis)

2005-07-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

The son of Russian parents, Ussachevsky entered the United States in 1931 and thereupon studied at Pomona College, Claremont, Calif., and at the Eastman School of Music of the University of

Valence

2005-06-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

The explanation and the systematization of valence was a major challenge to 19th-century

Arabian Desert

2005-06-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

Western Arabia formed part of the African landmass before a rift occurred in the Earth's crust, as a result of which the Red Sea was formed and Africa and the Arabian Peninsula finally became separated some five to six million years ago. Thus, the southern half of the peninsula has a greater affinity with the regions of Somalia and Ethiopia in Africa than with northern

Bhander Plateau

2005-06-15T00:30:00.000-07:00

Plateau in Madhya Pradesh state, north-central India, in the South Central Highlands. Having an area of about 4,000 square miles (10,000 square km), it constitutes a transitional zone between the North Deccan Plateau to the south, the Eastern Plateau to the east, and the alluvial stretch of the Ganges River plains to the north. The plateau is part of the Vindhya Range and is composed

Pyrolite

2005-06-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Rock consisting of about three parts peridotite and one part basalt. The name was coined to explain the chemical and mineralogic composition of the upper mantle of the Earth. The relative abundances of the principal metallic element components (except iron) are similar to those in chondritic meteorites and in the solar photosphere. Accordingly, it is reasonable

Madderakka

2005-05-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

Sami goddess of childbirth. She is assisted by three of her daughters—Sarakka, the cleaving woman; Uksakka, the door woman; and Juksakka, the bow woman—who watch over the development of the child from conception through early childhood. Madderakka was believed to receive the soul of a child from Veralden-radien, the world ruler deity, and to give it a body, which Sarakka

Israel, Cultural institutions

2005-05-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

Israel has a rich and varied range of cultural institutions, including major libraries, an art institute and artists' colonies, art museums, institutes for archeology and folk life, theatres, concert halls and performing arts centres, and movie houses. A thriving film industry has emerged. In 1953 the Israeli government established the Academy of the Hebrew Language

Marrah Mountains

2005-05-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

Arabic Jabal Marra, mountain range, a rugged volcanic chain extending for 100 miles (160 km) west-southwest of Al-Fashir, in west-central Sudan. The highest point of the Nile-Lake Chad watershed, the mountains reach heights of more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Some intermittent tributaries of the Al-'Arab River rise on the southern flanks.

Lod

2005-03-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

Also called �Lydda, � city, central Israel, on the Plain of Sharon southeast of Tel Aviv - Yafo. Of ancient origin, it is mentioned several times in the Bible: in a New Testament account (Acts 9:32), the apostle Peter healed the paralytic at Lod. The city was a well-known centre of Jewish scholars and merchants from the 5th century BC until the Roman conquest in AD 70. It was the Roman colony of Diospolis after AD 200 and

Keratosis

2005-03-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

Nongovernmental in nature, the ABA seeks to encourage improvements in the legal profession, to ensure the availability of legal services to all citizens, and to improve the administration of justice. It

India, The Deccan and the south

2005-03-12T00:29:00.000-08:00

In the northern Deccan the decline of the Later Calukyas brought about the rise of their feudatories, among them the Yadava dynasty (also claiming descent from the Yadu tribe) based at Devagiri (Daulatabad), whose kingdom (Seunadesa) included the Khandesh (now divided into Dhule and Jalgaon), the Nashik, and the Ahmadnagar districts. The kingdom expanded during the reign of Si

Cadenza

2005-03-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

(Italian: �cadence�), unaccompanied bravura passage introduced at or near the close of a movement of a composition and serving as a brilliant climax, particularly in solo concerti of a virtuoso character. Until well into the 19th century such interpolated passages were often improvised by the performer at suitable openings left for that purpose by the composer. They

Ear, Human, Disturbances of the vestibular system

2005-03-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

The relation between the vestibular apparatus of the two ears is reciprocal. When the head is turned to the left, the discharge from the left horizontal canal is decreased, and vice versa. Normal posture is the result of their acting in cooperation and in opposition. When the vestibular system of one ear is damaged, the unrestrained activity of the other causes a continuous

Jackson, Mahalia

2005-03-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

Jackson was brought up in a strict religious atmosphere. Her father's family included several entertainers, but she was forced to confine her own musical activities to singing in the church choir and listening - surreptitiously - to recordings

Nephelometry And Turbidimetry

2005-03-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

In analytical chemistry, methods for determining the amount of cloudiness, or turbidity, in a solution based upon measurement of the effect of this turbidity upon the transmission and scattering of light. Turbidity in a liquid is caused by the presence of finely divided suspended particles. If a beam of light is passed through a turbid sample, its intensity is reduced

Liliales

2005-03-06T13:41:00.000-08:00

Lily order of the monocotyledonous flowering plants, a division of the subclass Liliidae. The order is a vast assemblage of plants whose flowers usually have three petals and three sepals - the sepals usually resembling the petals in shape and colour - and whose leaves are generally linear or strap-shaped with parallel veins. Within this large order, exemplified

Jordan, Biblical associations

2005-03-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Biblical accounts of the area, dating from the Middle Bronze Age onward, mention kingdoms such as Gilead in the north, Moab in central Jordan, and Midian in the south. At the time of the Exodus, the Israelites tried to pass through Edom in southern Jordan but were refused permission. They were at first repelled by the Amorites, whom they later defeated. The Israelite tribes

Ouro Pr�to

2005-03-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

Within a decade of its founding in 1698 as a mining settlement, Ouro Pr�to became the centre of the greatest gold and silver rush in the Americas to that date. It still resembled a

Iffland, August Wilhelm

2005-03-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Destined for the church, Iffland, at the age of 18, broke with parental authority and joined the Gotha court theatre to study acting under Konrad Ekhof's direction. In 1779, after Ekhof's death, Iffland went with the Gotha company to Mannheim, where he

Sol

2005-03-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

The worship of Sol assumed an entirely

Priam

2005-03-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the last king of Troy. He succeeded his father, Laomedon, as king and extended his control over the Hellespont. He married first Arisbe (a daughter of Merops the seer) and then Hecuba, by whom he had many children, including his favourites, Hector and Paris. Homer described Priam as an old man, powerless but kindly, not even blaming Helen, the wife of Paris,

Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton

2005-02-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hooker,

Corbie Step

2005-02-26T19:07:00.000-08:00

Also called �crow step� stone used for covering any of the steps or indentations in the coping (uppermost, covering course) of a gable; the term is also applied to the step itself. Corbie steps were common in late medieval buildings of the Netherlands and Belgium and occurred frequently in 15th-century Scottish architecture. They also appear in some 15th-century English houses, such as Oxburgh

English Literature, Early translations into English

2005-02-25T15:08:00.000-08:00

But the earliest literary prose dates from the late 9th century, when King Alfred, eager to improve the state of English learning, led a vigorous program to translate into English �certain books that are necessary for all men to know.� Alfred himself translated St. Gregory I the Great's Pastoral Care, Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, St. Augustine of Hippo's Soliloquies

China, The rise of the Manchu

2005-02-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

The Manchu, who ruled China from 1644 to 1911, were descendants of the Juchen tribes who had ruled North China as the Chin dynasty in the 12th century. From the 15th century they had paid tribute to the Ming and been organized in the commandery system, so they had long had extensive and regular contact with the Chinese state and, more importantly, with the Chinese military officers

Arabia, Geology

2005-02-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

The bulk of Arabia consists of two main geomorphological areas: the Arabian shield in the west; and sedimentary areas dipping away from the shield to the northeast, east, and southeast into the great basin consisting of lower Iraq, the Persian Gulf, and the eastern part of the Rub' al-Khali (the Empty Quarter) desert. The eastern edge of the shield curves eastward from the

Switzerland, Switzerland from 1848 to the present

2005-02-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

The turning point, then, in modern Swiss history was 1848. Before that date internal conflict was a fact of Swiss political life; since then there has been an absence of major internal crises along ethnic and religious lines, and the country has prospered. With political stability, the Swiss could spend a greater portion of their time and efforts developing industry, agriculture,

Cat, Domestic

2005-02-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

Also called� house cat,� (species Felis catus), domesticated member of the family Felidae, order Carnivora. Like all felids, domestic cats, the smallest members of the family, are characterized by supple, low-slung bodies, finely molded heads, long tails that aid in balance, and specialized teeth and claws that adapt them admirably to a life of active hunting. Domestic cats possess other features

Neuserre

2005-02-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Nyuserre, � sixth king of the 5th dynasty (c. 2465 - c. 2325 BC) of Egypt; he is primarily known for his temple to the sun-god Re at Abu Jirab (Abu Gurab) in Lower Egypt. The temple plan, like that built by Userkaf (the first king of the 5th dynasty), consisted of a valley temple, causeway, gate, and temple court, which contained an obelisk (the symbol of Re) and an alabaster altar. The sun-temple reliefs revealed an exceptionally

Scandinavian Literature, The influence of Georg Brandes

2005-02-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

About 1870 there arose in Denmark a new movement, led by Georg Brandes, from which a modern (i.e., a Naturalistic or Realistic) literature emerged. His Hovedstr�mninger i det 19de aarhundredes litteratur (1872 - 90; Main Currents in 19th Century Literature), describing the growth and defeat of reaction, caused a great sensation. As noted earlier, he influenced Ibsen and Strindberg and wrote

China, Local government

2005-02-18T19:02:00.000-08:00

The Ming state system was built upon a foundation of institutions inherited from the T'ang and Sung dynasties and modified by the intervening dynasties of conquest from the north, especially the Y�an. The distinctive new patterns of social and administrative organization that emerged in Ming times persisted, in their essential features, through the Ch'ing dynasty

Van Buren, Martin

2005-02-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

Unanimously renominated by the Democrats in 1840, Van Buren was overwhelmingly defeated by the Whig candidate William Henry Harrison. Four years later the Democrats were bitterly divided over the question of the annexation of Texas, and Van Buren, who opposed annexation, was passed over in favour of James K. Polk, who won the election on a platform calling for the annexation of both Texas and Oregon. In 1848 Van Buren ran as a candidate of the Free Soil Party, which included members of the antislavery factions of the Democratic Party (the �Barnburners�) and the Whig Party, but he received only 10 percent of the vote. He spent several years in Europe and then retired to his estate, Lindenwald, in Kinderhook.

Chatham

2005-02-16T05:14:00.000-08:00

Port, Medway unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Kent, southeastern England. The port lies along the River Medway just above its confluence with the River Thames, on the southeastern periphery of Greater London. Chatham is continuous with the communities of Rochester (west) and Gillingham and New Brompton (east), known as the Medway towns, for which

Argentina, Agriculture

2005-02-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

Argentina is one of the world's major exporters of soybeans and wheat, as well as meat. It is also one of the largest producers of wool and wine, but most of its wine is consumed domestically. Although agriculture is an important source of export earnings, it now accounts for a small percentage of the overall GDP, and it employs only a tiny portion of the nation's

Cond�, Louis Iii, 6e Prince De (6th Prince Of), Duc (duke) De Bourbon

2005-02-14T01:15:00.000-08:00

He was short, with an enormous head and a yellow complexion, and was notoriously malevolent and offensive. In 1685 he was married to one of Louis XIV's bastards, Louise Fran�oise de Bourbon (previously known as Mlle de Nantes). As a soldier

Sacchetti, Franco

2005-02-13T23:24:00.000-08:00

Sacchetti was born of a noble Florentine family. Both as merchant and as public official he traveled widely. In his letters, in some of his verses, and in the Sposizioni di Vangeli (�Expositions on the Gospels�) he expressed

Alekseyev, Mikhail Vasilyevich

2005-02-12T02:25:00.000-08:00

The son of a private soldier, Alekseyev entered the Russian Army in 1876 and was graduated in 1890 from

Latin America

2005-02-11T00:02:00.000-08:00

The countries of South America and North America (including Central America and the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants speak a Romance language. Most frequently the term Latin America is restricted to countries whose inhabitants speak either Spanish or Portuguese, but the French-speaking areas of Haiti, French Guiana, and the French West Indies may also

Ski Patrol

2005-02-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

Group of paid or volunteer workers at ski resorts whose primary function is to promote skiing safety and provide first aid for injured skiers. Ski patrolmen are proficient skiers trained in first aid and cold weather rescue and survival techniques. One of the largest such organizations in the world is the National Ski Patrol System of the United States, founded

Furniture, Upholstery and covers

2005-02-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

Upholstery and covers belong to the sphere of furniture designed for sitting or lying on. From the Orient, Europeans learned the use of wickerwork, which provided a ventilated and resilient background for loose cushions. The upholstered chair is a genuinely European phenomenon that achieved its most distinguished and logical form in England during the 18th century.

Gaines, William Maxwell

2005-02-08T04:05:00.000-08:00

Gaines served in the U.S. Army during World War II, which interrupted his studies at New York University (B.S., 1948). He inherited EC (Educational Comics)

Lever Brothers

2005-02-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

Predecessor company of Unilever (q.v.).

Zambezi River

2005-02-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

The first non-Africans to reach the Zambezi were Arab traders, who utilized the river's lower reaches from the 10th century onward. They were followed in the 16th century by the Portuguese, who hoped to use the river to develop a trade in ivory, gold, and slaves. Until the 19th century, the river, then called the Zanbere, was believed to flow south from a vast inland sea that was also

Mufti

2005-02-05T22:13:00.000-08:00

Arabic �Mufti, � an Islamic legal authority who gives a formal legal opinion (fatwa) in answer to an inquiry by a private individual or judge. A fatwa usually requires knowledge of the Qur'an and Hadith (narratives concerning the Prophet's life and sayings), as well as knowledge of exegesis and collected precedents, and might be a pronouncement on some problematic legal matter. Under the Ottoman

Atholl, John Murray, 2nd Earl And 1st Marquess Of, Earl Of Tullibardin, Viscount Of Balquhidder, Lord Murray, Balvany, And Gask

2005-02-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

The son of the 1st earl of Atholl in the Murray line, Atholl was the chief supporter of the earl of Glencairn's rising in 1653 but was obliged to surrender a year later to George Monck, the Commonwealth commander in chief in Scotland.

Sibelius, Jean

2005-02-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

Sibelius studied at the Finnish Normal School, the first Finnish-speaking school in Russian-held Finland, where he came into contact with Finnish literature and in particular with the Kalevala, the mythological epic of Finland, which remained for him a constant

Bahram V

2005-02-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

He was educated at the court of al-Mundhir, the Lakhmid Arab king of al-Hira, in Mesene, whose support helped him gain the throne after the assassination of his father, Yazdegerd I. He was apparently also supported by Mihr-Naresh, chief

Augustine, Saint

2005-02-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

Although autobiographical narrative makes up much of the first 9 of the 13 books of Augustine's Confessiones (397; Confessions), autobiography is incidental to the main purpose of the work. For Augustine confessions is a catchall term for acts of religiously authorized speech: praise of God, blame of self, confession of faith. The book is a richly textured meditation by a middle-aged

Chablis

2005-01-31T16:00:00.000-08:00

Chablis vineyards

Radewyns, Florentius

2005-01-30T04:18:00.000-08:00

Educated at the University of Prague, Radewyns returned to Leerdam

Nephelinite

2005-01-29T22:53:00.000-08:00

Silica-poor (basic) lava that contains nepheline and pyroxene and is usually completely crystallized. Despite its wide geographic distribution and occasional extensive local development, it is a very rare rock. Known only from Tertiary strata (about 2,500,000 to 65,000,000 years in age), nephelinites are abundant in the Canary Islands, the Azores, the Cape Verde Islands, and Isla Fernando

Ramazan Dynasty

2005-01-28T16:45:00.000-08:00

In 1352 Ramazan, founder of the dynasty, was recognized by the Mamluk sultan of Egypt as the ruler of the ��ok branch of Oguz Turkmen in �ukurova. After a period of attempts to overthrow Mamluk suzerainty, the dynasty's principality about 1418 came under direct Mamluk control and lost its

Pacific Scandal

2005-01-27T03:03:00.000-08:00

One of the conditions under which British Columbia entered the Dominion of Canada (1871) was that a railway to link that province with the east be constructed

Venini, Paolo

2005-01-26T10:31:00.000-08:00

Italian glassmaker and designer and manufacturer of glassware, whose works are outstanding for their combination of traditional technique and modern form. His glass factory in Murano contributed to a revival of art-glass manufacture in the 1930s and '40s and employed some of the finest designers of the period, among them Gio Ponti and Tyra

Downy Mildew

2005-01-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

Disease of plants, especially in cool humid regions, caused by several fungi, including species of Basidiophora, Bremia, Peronospora, Phytophthora, Plasmopara, Pseudoperonospora, and Sclerospora. White, gray, bluish, or violet downy patches of mildew form mostly on the undersides of leaves in damp weather. Pale-green to yellow or brown areas usually develop on the

Low, Seth

2005-01-24T14:03:00.000-08:00

Low was graduated as valedictorian of Columbia College in 1870, thereupon

Espinosa, Pedro De

2005-01-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

Espinosa's own poetry

Mitchum, Robert

2005-01-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

Expelled from Haaren High School in New York City's Hell's Kitchen, Mitchum took to the road during the early years of the Depression.

Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich

2005-01-20T00:15:00.000-08:00

Probably educated by his father's cousin Johann Elias Bach, J.C.F. Bach became a chamber musician to Count Wilhelm at B�ckeburg in 1750, and was appointed concertmaster c. 1758. His career was steady and his output of compositions extensive. He made a successful transition from the late Baroque

Brentano, Lujo

2005-01-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

Brentano received his Ph.D. in economics in 1867 from the University of G�ttingen and was professor of political theory from 1871 to 1931, successively, at the Universities

Kra, Isthmus Of

2005-01-18T05:32:00.000-08:00

Thai �Khokhok Kra� narrow neck of southern Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand, connecting the Malay Peninsula to the Asian mainland. The isthmus lies between the Gulf of Thailand to the east and the Andaman Sea to the west. It is 25 - 30 miles (40 - 48 km) wide at its narrowest point, between Chumphon and Kra Buri (both in Thailand). Kra Buri, for which it was named, is at the head of the Pakchan River estuary, an inlet

Interferon

2005-01-17T19:38:00.000-08:00

Interferon was named for its ability to interfere with viral proliferation. The various forms of interferon are the body's most rapidly produced and important defense against viruses. Interferons can also

Quadrature

2005-01-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, process of determining the area of a plane geometric figure by dividing it into a collection of shapes of known area (usually rectangles) and then finding the sum of these areas. When this process is performed with solid figures to find volume, the process is called cubature. A similar process called rectification is used in determining the length

Khartoum

2005-01-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

Arabic �Al-Khurtum� (�Elephant's Trunk�), city, executive capital of The Sudan, just south of the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers. It has bridge connections with its sister towns, Khartoum North and Omdurman, with which it forms The Sudan's largest conurbation. Originally an Egyptian army camp (pitched 1821), Khartoum grew into a garrisoned army town. The Mahdists besieged and destroyed

Dubois, Jean-antoine

2005-01-14T01:25:00.000-08:00

Ordained in 1792, he sailed to India under the Missions �trang�res. Despite his efforts in many parts of South India, his mission failed, and he returned to Paris (1823), convinced that the conversion of the Hindus was impossible. In Paris he became director

Asteridae

2005-01-13T02:58:00.000-08:00

The Asteridae, one of the six subclasses in the class Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons), consists of 11 orders, 49 families, and nearly 60,000 species. About one-third of the species of Asteridae belong to the family Asteraceae (of the order Asterales), which is the largest family of dicotyledons and one of the two largest

Raynaud's Disease

2005-01-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

Disease, occurring primarily in young women, in which spasms in the arteries to the fingers cause the fingertips of both hands to become first pale and then cyanotic - bluish - upon exposure to cold or in response to emotion. Often the fingertips become cold and numb and perspire. The fingers may ache and move awkwardly. If the attack is prolonged, the rest of the hands and

Arts, Central Asian, The study of Central Asian music

2005-01-11T18:24:00.000-08:00

In the West the study of Central Asian music has until recently been restricted largely to travellers' accounts and analyses of small samples of music. By far the bulk of collection and study of Central Asian music of Turkistan and Siberia lay in the domain of Soviet scholars, who instituted systematic fieldwork as early as the 1920s; this literature remains largely

Bradley, Bill

2005-01-10T21:05:00.000-08:00

Bradley began to play basketball at the age of nine and became one of the best players in Missouri high school basketball history. At Princeton University, Bradley, a forward, was a playmaker and high scorer, averaging 30.1 points a game during three seasons, in each

Abreu, Capistrano De

2005-01-09T01:46:00.000-08:00

After serving at the National Library of Rio de Janeiro (1875 - 83), Abreu became professor of history at the Col�gio Dom Pedro II in 1883. Influenced by the sociology of Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer and the historical enterprises of Henry

Earth, The atmosphere

2005-01-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

The Earth is surrounded by a relatively thin atmosphere consisting of a mixture of gases, primarily molecular nitrogen (77 percent) and molecular oxygen (21 percent). This gaseous envelope, commonly called the air, also contains much smaller amounts of gases such as argon, carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapour, along with minute solid and liquid particles in

Asante Empire

2005-01-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

In their struggle against the suzerain state of Denkyera and lesser neighbouring

Goalundo Ghat

2005-01-06T14:20:00.000-08:00

Also called �Goalundo, � town, central Bangladesh. It is situated near the confluence of the Padma and Jamuna rivers. Goalundo Ghat is linked by road with Faridpur and Kushtia and is an important river-steamer and rail-spur terminus. Its principal transshipment commodities are rice, jute, oilseeds, sugarcane, and fish. Industries include rice milling and ice and candle manufacturing. Pop. (1981) 38,645.

Insurance, Worldwide operations

2005-01-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

Because of the great expansion in world trade and the extent to which business firms make investments outside their home countries, the market for insurance on a worldwide scale has expanded rapidly in the 20th century. This development has required a worldwide network of offices to provide brokerage services, underwriting assistance, claims service, and so forth.

Osage River

2005-01-04T07:07:00.000-08:00

River rising as the Marais des Cygnes (French: �Swan Marshes�) in the Flint Hills near Eskridge, Kan., U.S. It becomes the Osage (named for the Osage Indians) after its junction with the Little Osage near Rich Hill, Mo., and then flows east through the Ozark highlands to enter the Missouri River near Jefferson City. The river is 500 miles (800 km) long and drains 15,300 square miles (39,600 square km). Along

Terek River

2005-01-03T01:36:00.000-08:00

River that rises in northern Georgia and flows north and then east through Russia to empty into the Caspian Sea. It is one of the main streams draining northward from the Caucasus mountain system. The Terek is 370 miles (600 km) long and drains a basin of 16,900 square miles (43,700 square km). It rises from the glaciers of Mount Kazbek in the main Caucasus range and cuts its way northward through

Japanese Literature, Western influences on poetry

2005-01-02T15:25:00.000-08:00

Translations of Western poetry led to the creation of new Japanese literary forms. The pioneer collection, Shintaishi-sho (1882; �Selection of Poems in the New Style�), contained not only translations from English but also five original poems by the translators in the poetic genres of the foreign examples. The translators declared that although European poetry had greater

Salem

2005-01-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1851) of Dent county, southeast-central Missouri, U.S., situated in the Ozark Mountains between the Current and Meramec rivers. Established in 1845 on the site of an inn and trading post, it was named for Salem, N.C. The town was occupied by Federal forces during the American Civil War, except briefly in 1864, when raiders burned the courthouse and jail. In a battle that was fought

La Tour, Georges De

2004-12-31T19:16:00.000-08:00

La Tour became a master painter and eventually settled in Lun�ville.

Berenice Iii

2004-12-30T20:11:00.000-08:00

Daughter of either Cleopatra Selene or Cleopatra IV, Berenice first married her uncle, Ptolemy X, sometime before 101. After the death in 101 of the dowager queen, Cleopatra III, the widow of Ptolemy VIII, Berenice became full queen. In 87 Ptolemy

Memory Abnormality, Hypnotic amnesia

2004-12-29T21:08:00.000-08:00

Memory of a hypnotic trance is often vague and fragmentary, as in awakening from an ordinary dream. This may be due in part to defect of registration during the period of altered consciousness. At the same time, very much more complete posthypnotic amnesia can be induced if an individual is told that, when he awakens, he will remember nothing of what went on during the

Arguello, Alexis

2004-12-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Arguello, who became a professional fighter in 1968, fought only in his homeland until 1974, when he went to Panama to seek the World Boxing Association's featherweight title. Arguello lost this match in a 15-round decision to Ernesto

Cinerama

2004-12-27T19:00:00.000-08:00

In motion pictures, a process in which three synchronized movie projectors each project one-third of the picture on a wide, curving screen. Many viewers believe that the screen, which thus annexes their entire field of vision, gives a sense of reality unmatched by the flat screen. Invented by the New York City photographer Fred Waller, the first Cinerama movie, This

Miracle, Sacred places

2004-12-26T23:29:00.000-08:00

Miracles are often connected with special sacred places. Normally these are natural shrines, such as sacred groves, or temples and sanctuaries in which a god or spirit lives or has manifested himself or in which his statue, symbol, holy objects, or relics are enshrined. Holy places, such as Mecca and the Ka'bah in Islam or the Buddhist stupas, are centres of pilgrimages

Mountain, Mid-ocean ridges and rises

2004-12-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

Where two lithospheric plates diverge, new material is intruded into the gap between the plates and accreted to each of them as they diverge. The vast majority of volcanic rocks ejected onto the surface of the Earth is erupted at the mid-ocean ridges and rises where this process occurs. Thus, such submarine landforms comprise very long, narrow volcanic centres. Although

Switzerland, The Reformation

2004-12-24T00:16:00.000-08:00

Shortly after the peace settlement with the French, the impact of the Reformation reached Switzerland. A period of internal strife ensued that was instrumental in shaping the human geography of the country. The cities, particularly the major centres of Bern, Basel, Geneva, Lausanne, Schaffhausen, and Z�rich, were far more receptive to the reform preaching of such

Hindi Literature

2004-12-23T10:21:00.000-08:00

The writings of the western Braj Bhasa and Khari Boli and of the eastern Awadhi and Bundeli dialects of the Indian subcontinent and also the writings of parts of Rajasthan in the west and of Bihar in the east that, strictly speaking, are not Hindi at all. Hindi literature also conventionally includes those works of Muslim writers (such as Jayasi) in the Persian script

Canada Balsam

2004-12-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

Canada balsam solidifies to a transparent mass and is an important cement, particularly

Gateleg Table

2004-12-21T04:05:00.000-08:00

Type of table first used in England in the 16th century. The top had a fixed section and one or two hinged sections, which, when not in use, folded back onto the fixed section or were allowed to hang vertically. The hinged section, or flap, was supported on pivoted legs joined at the top and bottom by stretchers and so constituting a gate. Large flaps had two supports,

Hyrax

2004-12-20T04:29:00.000-08:00

Also called �Dassie, � any of the small hoofed mammals of the order Hyracoidea. Both hyraxes and the unrelated pikas (order Lagomorpha) are also sometimes called rock rabbits; the term is misleading for hyraxes, which are neither rabbits nor exclusively rock dwellers. The term cony (coney) in the Bible actually refers not to the true cony (also a lagomorph) but to the

Sarangi

2004-12-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

Short-necked fiddle used throughout South Asia, particularly for folk and classical Hindustani music. Measuring about 30 inches (76 cm) long, its roughly rectangular, slightly waisted body and broad, fretless neck are generally carved from a single piece of wood. It has three melody strings made of gut, sometimes a fourth of metal, and as many as 40 sympathetically

Saarland

2004-12-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

A well-developed educational system includes a series of technical high schools and the University of the Saarland at Saarbr�cken. Cultural institutions - including the City Theatre, Radio Saarland, and the Modern Gallery of Saarbr�cken - draw support from both Germany and France. There are a dozen museums and galleries and a large number of singing, musical, and

Pembroke, William Herbert, 1st Earl Of, Baron Herbert Of Cardiff

2004-12-17T00:23:00.000-08:00

Also called (until 1551) �Sir William Herbert� the Earl of Pembroke of the second Herbert creation, a leading figure in the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I of England. His father, Sir Richard Herbert, was an illegitimate son of William, the 1st Earl of Pembroke of the first creation. Sir William's first wife, Anne Parr, was a sister of Catherine Parr, who married Henry VIII

John Bar Qursos,

2004-12-16T04:07:00.000-08:00

A soldier before becoming a monk, John was made bishop in 519 and undertook the spread of a doctrine of Christ's person and work common to Syrian and Egyptian monasticism, a belief derived from a beatifying inner experience of